Camp Albemarle Rules

 Safety is our #1 concern, and we appreciate your following these rules: - Please stay off the rocks; - Shoes must be worn at all times; - - Be able to identify poison ivy and be careful to stay away from it; - Stay in shallow water (not above knee level) during all stream activities; - All students should stay with their group leader at all times; - Please let Chuck Pace (see below) know if you find any problems that pose a safety threat to your students (broken windows, loose railings, etc.) so that he can notify the camp.  Clean-up: Remember that you will need to take all of your trash with you, so please bring trash bags.  Before you leave, check to see that all lights are off and doors are closed in the lodge, cabins, and bathhouses before you leave.

Additional Information

 We recommend providing nametags for all students and some way to differentiate the groups (e.g. color coded nametags, t-shirts, etc.).  Fifteen pairs of boots are available for use by students during the in-stream macroinvertebrate sampling activity. Students are encouraged to bring an extra pair of sneakers to change into, with shorts or trousers that can be rolled up. Shoes should have closed toes for protection in the river.  Master switches for all lights are located in the supply closet in the main lodge  Toilet paper and paper towels will be supplied by the camp.  Bathroom facilities are provided for both students and adults. The bathrooms inside the lodge are for adults. Students are to use the outdoor bath houses - boys to the left of the main lodge, girls to the right.  Camp Albemarle now has a caretaker who will open the camp by 8:30 a.m. and close up after you leave. Both the main gate and the lodge will be open when you arrive.

Watershed Education Activities Two or three activities may be run by natural resource educators in support of school groups at Camp Albemarle. Schools are encouraged to plan additional activities to complete the number of stations that the group will require. We have included instructions and/or materials for five activities that have proven successful in the past: the Enviroscape (watershed model), Macroinvertebrate Stream Monitoring, Oh Deer! (population dynamics game), Nature Walk Bingo, and Tree I.D.

If you have questions or concerns, please call Chuck Pace at 296-5820 or 996-4359. Have a great time at Camp Albemarle!

1 2 Enviroscape: Procedure

The Enviroscape is a model of a watershed used to explain what a watershed is, discuss the water cycle, and demonstrate how land use within a watershed can cause various types of water pollution.

I. Definition of watershed: an area of land on which all runoff from the rain that falls will drain to the same place (at the bottom of the watershed). A. Ask students where runoff goes when it falls on top of the hill in the model (downhill to the body of water at the bottom). B. Ask students where runoff goes when it falls on the roof of the lodge or on the hillside across the river (downhill to the Moorman River) C. watersheds can be small or large 1. Moorman River Watershed 2. Rivanna River Watershed 3. James River Watershed 4. Chesapeake Bay Watershed D. Discuss the importance of having clean water in the Moorman River to people in Charlottesville who get their water from the Rivanna Reservoir.

II. Students Identify Land Use on the Model A. farm 1. plowed field for crops (ask students for examples of crops) 2. livestock (identify animals and food products they produce) B. roads C. houses D. construction E. forestry/lumbering (identify products derived from trees) F. golf course (hint: game played on grass with sand traps) G. factory (identify some products produced in factories) H. waste water treatment plant (treats waste water from houses before returning it to river)

III. Students identify pollution produced by each land use (with brief discussion of effects of pollution) A. soil/erosion (What do you call it when rain washes the soil away?) 1. plowed field 2. livestock (if overcrowded) 3. construction (if no erosion controls) 4. forestry (if no replanting or erosion controls)

3 5. stream banks (if no plants to protect banks)

B. nutrients/fertilizer/animal waste 1. plowed field (fertilizer for crops) 2. pasture/livestock (animal waste) 3. houses (lawns and gardens/failing septic system) 4. golf course (fertilizer for grass) 5. waste water treatment plant (overflows in heavy rain) C. oil and gas 1. roads 2. parking lot

D. other 1. factory

IV. Watershed Review A. Ask students to define a watershed again. B. Ask students where all the runoff in the model ended up. C. Ask students where all the pollution ended up 1. Point out that pollution on the roof of the lodge or on the field below ends up in the Moorman River. 2. Ask where else the pollution goes (Rivanna, James, Chesapeake). 3. Point out that people in the same watershed are connected; that pollution always ends up downstream, which can be as far away as the Chesapeake Bay.

V. How to prevent water pollution A. Farm 1. use as little fertilizer as needed (according to soil test) 2. fence cows out of creek 3. establish filter strips and/or buffers along waterways B. Roads/vehicles 1. keep vehicle in good repair 2. never pour used motor oil down drain, in woods or in driveway (recycle at garage) C. Houses 1. use as little fertilizer on lawns and gardens as needed (according to soil test; follow instructions on fertilizer bag) 2. inspect and pump septic tank as needed D. Construction 1. silt fences

4 2. sediment trap/basin E. Forestry 1. replant trees 2. use silt fences and sediment traps as needed F. Golf Course 1. use as little fertilizer as needed (according to soil test)

Soil Boxes: Procedure

Three soil boxes may be used to supplement the Enviroscape lesson with a soil erosion experiment which demonstrates the role that plants and mulch cover play in protecting soil from erosion, and illustrates the fact that grass and other plants keep stormwater runoff cleaner than either mulch or bare soil because roots help hold the soil in place.

I. Discuss the importance of soil A. Point out that almost everything we eat depends on the soil; challenge students to name anything we eat that does not depend on the soil 1. fruits and vegetables 2. meat (animals eat plants or other animals that eat plants) II. Conduct the erosion experiment A. Ask what it is called when rain washed away the soil. B. Ask what is in the first box (soil) 1. point out that all three boxes contain the same amount of soil 2. ask what is on top of the soil in the second box (straw/hay) 3. ask what is growing in the soil in the third box (grass) C. Tell the students that they will make it "rain" on each of the boxes using a sprinkling can and use a jar to catch the water that comes out the front. 1. ask students what it is called when a scientist makes a scientific guess (hypothesis) 2. ask what they think the water that comes out of the first box (bare soil) will look like (erosion will carry soil out with the water) 3. ask whether they think the water coming out of the second box (straw) will have more or less soil in it than the water coming out of the first box 4. ask whether they think the water coming out of the third box will contain more or less soil than water coming out of the second box D. Choose volunteers to use the watering can in the back of the truck and to catch the water coming out of each box. E. Have the volunteers hold up the jars and compare. 1. Discuss whether the hypotheses were confirmed or disproved . 2. Discuss how mulch and grass (and other plants) protect soil from erosion.

5 Benthic Macroinvertebrate Stream Sampling

Macroinvertebrate stream sampling is a technique used to monitor the health and water quality of streams. The technique depends on the fact that the insect larvae and other macroinvertebrates that live under rocks on the bottom (benthos) of streams can be divided into three groups depending on their sensitivity to pollution in the water:

Group #1: Sensitive to pollution (cannot survive in polluted water).

Group #2: Somewhat sensitive to pollution (can survive at low levels of pollution).

Group #3: Tolerant of pollution (can survive, or even thrive, in polluted water).

A stream is deemed healthy if the majority of species captured are sensitive or somewhat sensitive to pollution. Diversity (a number of different species) is also an indicator of a healthy stream with good water quality. The stream probably has pollution problems if only pollution-tolerant species are found. The procedure used at Camp Albemarle has been adapted from the Virginia Save Our Streams protocol for use with elementary and middle school students.

Procedure 1. Ask students the name of the river (Moorman). Ask why it is important to people living in Charlottesville (it flows into the Rivanna River Reservoir from which Charlottesville gets all its drinking water, etc). Have the students 2. Ask the students to observe the river from the bank and give their opinion on whether the water looks dirty or clean. Fill a glass jar with a sample of the water and hold it up. Remind students that while the water looks clean, some kinds of pollution cannot be seen. That is why we will be catching the insect larvae that live under rocks in the stream to reach a conclusion regarding the water quality. 3. Students capture a sample of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Moorman River using a net (kick seine). Two students hold the net in place while others stir up the bottom to dislodge the insect larvae. The sample is then examined on shore. Macroinvertebrates are removed from the net, placed in ice cube trays and identified with the help of the instructors. Green (sensitive), Yellow (somewhat sensitive) and Red (tolerant) cards are available to help in identifying the macroinvertebrates and determine their sensitivity to pollution. 4. A good wrap-up activity is to share the specimens collected by each group with the other groups, asking students to identify them and determine whether they are sensitive, somewhat sensitive or tolerant of pollution. Based on the results, ask the students whether they think the water in the Moorman River is relatively clean or polluted.

6 Field Worksheet: Calculating an Index of Water Quality

Use the Macroinvertebrate Invertebrate Species cards to identify each organism you collect. Write the name of each kind of macroinvertebrate on a line under the class it belongs to - Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 - using the lists below. Perform the calculations and add up the numbers to get your Water Quality Index.

Class 1 – Pollution Sensitive

caddisfly larva stonefly larva mayfly larva gilled snail

Class 2 – Moderately Pollution Tolerant

"water penny" hellgrammite fingernail or pea clam riffle beetle dragonfly larva crayfish netspinner damselfly larva

Class 3 – Pollution Tolerant Organisms

blackfly larva cranefly larva lunged snail midge larva aquatic worm leech horsefly larva

Water Quality Index Excellent = 23 and above Good = 17 – 22 Fair = 11-16 Poor = 10 or below

7 Biological Monitoring Field Worksheet

River: Temperature:

Weather: Water Level:

Class 1 (Sensitive to Pollution – they need clean water!)

Total number of TYPES found: X 3 =

Class 2 (Somewhat Sensitive to Pollution.)

Total number of TYPES found: X 2 =

Class 3 (Tolerant of Pollution)

Total number of TYPES found: X 1 =

GRAND TOTAL =

8 9 10 Oh Deer! (adapted from Project Wild K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide)

Objectives Students will be able to: 1. identify food, water and shelter as three essential components of habitat. 2. describe factors that influence carrying capacity (how large a population a habitat can support) 3. define limiting factors and give examples 4. recognize that some fluctuations in populations are natural, while others result from human impact

Method Students portray deer and habitat components in a physical activity.

Materials - an outdoor area large enough for students to run (ideal: playing field) - cones to mark boundaries, - paper and writing utensil (for teacher or adult chaperone to record data) - optional: habitat component cards

Background Students often think of a healthy ecosystem as “balanced”, not realizing that every relationship and population is dynamic and changing over time as a result of many different environmental or cultural variables. Wildlife populations are not static; they fluctuate in response to a variety of stimulating and limiting factors.

Carrying capacity is the dynamic balance between the availability of resources and the population a habitat can support. Many factors related to carrying capacity determine the ability of a species to survive and to successfully maintain a strong population. All animals are dependent upon habitat, and the four basic components of habitat are food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement. This activity emphasizes three of those habitat components – food, water and shelter – but the students should not forget the importance of the animals having sufficient space in which to live, and that all the components must be in a suitable arrangement for wildlife populations to reach their maximum size.

In nature, populations are prevented from reproducing to form a larger population than the habitat can support by limiting factors. Disease, predators, weather conditions and habitat destruction and degradation all limit the size of a population.

11 Procedure

1. Ask the students to define habitat. Ask if humans have a habitat. How about domestic animals? Ask if humans share habitat with wildlife. 2. Review the four essential components of habitat: food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement. Tell the students they will be focusing on three of the habitat needs of deer in this activity. The essential components for survival of deer are food, water and shelter and space in a suitable arrangement, but in this activity we will assume the deer have enough space. 3. Ask the students to count off in fours. Have all the ones go to one area; all twos, threes, and fours go together to another area. Mark two parallel lines on the ground ten to twenty yards apart. Have the ones line up behind one line; the rest of the students line up behind the other line facing the ones. 4. The ones become deer. All deer need good habitat to survive. Again, ask the students what the essential components of habitat are for a deer (food, water, forest for shelter, and fields for browsing. The deer need to find food, water, shelter, and space in a suitable arrangement to survive. In this activity we will assume the deer have enough space in which to live. - When a deer is looking for food, the student should place his "hooves" over his stomach. - When a deer is looking for water, the student places his hooves over its mouth. - When a deer is looking for shelter, the student should put his hands together over his head, making an arch. A deer can choose to look for one of these needs during each round of the game; the deer cannot, however, change what it is looking for (e.g. when it sees what is available during that round). It can change what it is looking for in the next round if it survives. 5. The twos, threes and fours are all components of habitat: food, water and shelter. Each student is allowed to choose at the beginning of each round which component he will be during that round. The students depict which component they are in the same way the deer show what they are looking for (i.e. hands on stomach for food, and so on). 6. The activity starts with all the players lined up behind their respective lines (deer on one side, habitat components on the other side) and with their backs facing the students along the other line. 7. Begin the first round by asking all of the students to make their signs - each deer deciding what it is looking for, each habitat component deciding what it is. Give the students a few moments to put their hands in place-over stomachs, over their mouths, or over their heads. NOTE: Switching symbols in the middle of a round can be avoided by having the students put on habitat component cards that show an illustration of what they are looking for, or what they represent. At the start of each round, students choose one of the cards. 8. When the students are ready, say, “Oh, Deer!” Each deer and each habitat component turn to face the opposite group, continuing to hold their signs clearly. 9. When the deer see the habitat component they need, they should run to it. Each deer must hold the sign of what it is looking for until getting to the habitat component with the same sign. Each deer that reaches its

12 necessary habitat component takes the “food”, “oxygen”, or “shelter" back to the deer side of the line. “Capturing” a component represents the deer successfully meeting its needs and successfully reproducing as a result. Any deer that fails to find food, oxygen, a rocky streambed, or a fish host dies and becomes part of the habitat. That is, any deer that died will be a habitat component the next round and so is available as food, oxygen, a rocky streambed, or a fish host to the deer that are still alive. NOTE: When more than one deer reaches a habitat component, the student who arrives first survives. Habitat components stay in place until a deer chooses them. If no deer needs a particular habitat component during a round, the habitat component just stays where it is in the habitat. The habitat component can, however, change which component it is from round to round. 10. Record the number of deer at the beginning of the game and at the end of each round. Continue the activity for approximately 15 rounds. 11. At the end of 15 rounds, bring the students together to discuss the activity. Encourage them to talk about what they experienced and saw. Discuss what role limiting factors played (when there was less of one habitat component available). Discuss how a larger population further depletes the habitat, and then a "die- off" occurs, reducing the population and bringing the two back into balance. You can introduce natural selection by pointing out how the fastest (or smartest) deer got to limited resources before the others.

Follow-up Classroom Activity: 12. Back in the classroom, use an overhead projector, flip chart, or chalkboard to post the data recorded during the activity. The number of deer at the beginning of the activity and at the end of each round represents the deer in a series of years. The students will see from this graph that a population is dynamic. The process is natural as long as the factors that limit the population do not become excessive to the point where the animals cannot successfully reproduce. The wildlife populations will tend to peak, decline, and rebuild; peak, decline, and rebuild-as long as there is good habitat and sufficient numbers of animals to reproduce successfully. 13. Ask the students what is realistic and unrealistic about this simulation? (Deer that do not survive do become recycled as nutrients but it is not instantaneous. Deer need all habitat components to survive. Poor habitat usually results in a weakened individual that succumbs to disease, not instant death). 14. In discussion, ask the students to summarize some of the things they learned from this activity. What do animals need to survive? How do these components influence carrying capacity? What are some “limiting factors” that affect the survival of animals? How do factors that limit carrying capacity affect the health, numbers, and distribution of animals? How do these factors affect competition within a species? Why is good habitat important for animals? Are wildlife populations static, or do they tend to fluctuate as a part of an overall “balance” of nature? Is nature ever in “balance” or are ecological systems involved in a process of constant change?

Variations 1. After the students have played several rounds of “Oh, Deer”, introduce a predator, such as a human hunter, mountain lion or wolf. The predator starts in a designated “predator den” area off to the side. The predator has to skip or hop. This impediment reduces the possibility of violent collisions between deer and predator.

13 The predator can tag deer only when they are going toward the habitat and are tagged between the habitat and the deer lines. Once a deer is tagged, the predator escorts the deer back to the predator den. The time it takes for the deer to be taken back to the den simulates the time it takes to be “eaten”. The “eaten” deer is now a predator. Predators that fail to tag someone die and turn into habitat. That is, in the next round the predators that died join the habitat line. They will become food, oxygen, or shelter. During each round, keep track of the number of predators as well as the number of deer. Incorporate those data in the graphs. 2. After the students have played several rounds of “Oh, Deer”, create different environmental scenarios which will alter the habitat available to the deer. Huddle the habitat components and tell them the situation and the limiting factor. Be certain the deer cannot hear you. Run through the constructed round with the limiting factor and then tell the deer the scenario. Have the students discuss these events and how they alter the graph.

Proposed Scenarios: 1. A severe drought occurs and oak trees produce few acorns in the fall. Limiting Factor: Food. No habitat components choose to represent food. 2. Humans build a subdivision, replacing farm fields and forest with houses and lawns. Limiting Factor: Shelter. No habitat components choose to represent shelter. 3. A factory is built which discharges toxic waste into a stream. Limiting Factor: Water. No habitat components choose to represent water. 4. A forest fire occurs, burning all vegetation. Limiting Factors: Shelter and food. No habitat components choose to represent shelter and food.

14 Nature Walk Bingo Cards

Objectives: 1. Encourage students to observe everything around them on the nature trail using their sense of sight, hearing, touch and smell. 2. Familiarize students with a few of the more common sights in the Virginia forest.

Materials: 1. One copy of the Nature Walk Bingo Card for the facilitator (or two can be used, if there is one adult at the front and one at the back of the group of students). 2. Markers

Preparation: Have 1 or 2 copies of the Nature Walk Bingo Card available for each group of students. The cards can be laminated and used more than once with wet erase overhead markers.

Procedure: 1. Tell the students they will be taking a short walk on the Camp Albemarle nature trail. They will be asked to observe everything around them using their eyes, their ears and their senses of touch and smell.

2. Whenever someone finds something on the card, they are encouraged to share it with the group, and will be given the card to mark off the item. Finding (or failing to find) items on the cards can be an opportunity for discussion with the group about various environmental topics.

Alternate Procedure: Have copies of the Bingo Cards for each pair of students to mark.

15 16 Tree I.D. (Source: Forest Trees of Virginia, Virginia Department of Forestry)

Beech Black Birch

Leaves 3 to 4 inches long, pointed at the tip and Leaves alternate, 3 to 4 inches long. Break a coarsely toothed along the edge. Bark is twig for the distinctive smell of "root beer". distinctly smooth.

17 Dogwood Red Maple Leaves opposite, 3 to 5 inches long, wavy along the Leaves 2-5 iches long with 3 saw-toothed lobes. Seeds edge. Bark broken up into small 4-sided blocks. are winged and fall in a spiral motion.

18 Tree I.D (continued)

Sassafras Tulip Poplar (or Yellow Poplar) Leaves can have 1, 2 or 3 lobes of the shapes Leaves are 4 to 6 inches long, with 4 lobes. shown above, 4 to 6 inches long Tulip-shapes flowers appear in April.

White Oak Wild Cherry (or Black Cherry) Leaves are alternate and pointed with edges Leaves alternate and 5 to 9 inches long, deeply broken by many fine, incurved teeth. Bark has divided into 5 to 9 rounded finger-like lobes. a bitter-almond taste.

19